and the eagles turned deafness into an advantage, using sign language and color coded sideline boards to call plays that athletes who can hear couldn't figure out. >> they have a medium of communication that is very simple. they can talk to each other. and they don't have to create a new language where as a matter of fact we might be at a disadvantage. >> reporter: it is tough enough growing up deaf, but over the space of a dozen football games, these kids proved their metal and their equality to the hearing world and to themselves. motivation? >> they think we're nothing, that they can beat us and that we won't beat them and they have a big ego. >> reporter: and reward. >> we shocked them and then they realized oh, yeah. deaf kids can play. >> reporter: for their extraordinary season, "sports illustrated" has honored the eagles as one of the country's accomplished underdogs. more important, what these young athletes have already won. >> what happened on the football field applies in real life. i'll always remember playing football here. of course i feel like it's going to help me bec